Breaking Bond (xXx, 2002)

Vin Diesel was a star on the rise. 2000 to 2002 really cemented him as a certain type of action star. He had a hit with the Fast and the Furious. He followed up with the action spy thriller xXx. The film re-teamed Diesel with his The Fast and the Furious Director Rob Cohen.

As spy movies go, the clear inspiration here is James Bond. It follows that template closely. There is the M (Gibbons, played by Samuel L. Jackson), the Q, the gadgets and the girls. And of course, the Bond. Diesel’s Xander Cage is an attempt to flip the Bond formula on it’s head. He has no real interest in being a warrior for his country. Xander is a popular Extreme Sports guy and anarchist who does not suffer fools lightly. His first act is to steal and trash the car of an anti-video game senator.

Xander is pushed by Gibbons to join the Triple X program, as a super spy. He tracks down and engages with the bad guys, meets a girl who may or may not be on the side of good. The story is not the star here. It is Diesel and the stunts. It is a showcase for exciting and death defying acts. And Diesel has a certain charm as the tough guy who walks that line of heroic but driven by ego.

This came out the same year as the final Brosnan Bond film Die Another Day. That film put the Bond Franchise to sleep for a few years. xXx is not a classic, but it definitely had fun with the formula, making for an enjoyable ride.